Supreme Court to Hear Case on Withdrawal of Charges Against Rabi Lamichhane in Cooperative Fraud Case

The hearing on the writ petition against the withdrawal of the charge sheet filed against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane, which includes organized crime and money laundering alongside cooperative fraud, is scheduled for today (Monday) under the 'Heard-Heard' category.

The hearing will take place before the joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Saranga Subedi and Sunil Kumar Pokharel. Attorney General Savita Bhandari had directed the District Government Attorney's Office to amend the cooperative fraud case, along with the organized crime and money laundering cases pending in various districts against Lamichhane.

Subsequently, Senior Advocate Dinesh Tripathi, law students Ayush Badal, and Yuvraj Poudel filed a writ petition against that decision. The 7-page 'Comment and Order' endorsed by Attorney General Savita Bhandari on Poush 30 directed the District Government Attorney's Offices to proceed with the case against Lamichhane only for cooperative fraud and drop the other two serious charges.

Although applications were submitted to the courts in Kaski and Rupandehi districts according to the Attorney General's directive, the hearing could not proceed as the case is pending in the Supreme Court. In accordance with the directive from the Attorney General's Office, the government attorney's offices in Kathmandu and Parsa have not yet submitted applications to the District Courts for the amendment of the charge sheet involving Lamichhane and others.